South Australian reef productivity showcased in Southern Rock Lobster study
27 October 2025
Last update: 29/10/25 04:22
The latest Paper of the Month for Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom is Marine park monitoring informs productivity potential of a southern rock lobster resource in South Australia and is available as open access.
The remarkable productivity of South Australia’s temperate marine reefs has been showcased in a recent study examining Southern Rock Lobster (Jasus edwardsii) populations within the state’s marine parks.
Established in 2009, the Neptune Islands Group and Western Kangaroo Island Marine Parks form part of South Australia’s network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). In 2014, sanctuary zones within these parks were closed to commercial fishing, providing local marine ecosystems the opportunity to recover and rebuild over the past decade.
In 2022, scientists and commercial fishers joined forces to assess how effective this protection has been. Dedicated surveys were undertaken both inside and outside the sanctuary zones to measure lobster abundance — expressed as catch per unit effort (CPUE) — and to record lobster sizes. The new survey results were then compared to long-term data collected from the commercial fishery operating in the same areas.
The findings were striking. Inside the sanctuary zones, lobster abundance was nearly four times higher than outside, with CPUE values 389% higher at the Neptune Islands and 411% higher at Western Kangaroo Island. Not only were there more lobsters in the protected zones, but they were also significantly larger than those found in adjacent fished areas.
Interestingly, at the Neptune Islands, lobsters inside and those caught just outside the sanctuary boundary were similar in size — suggesting a possible “spillover effect”, where larger lobsters move beyond protected boundaries and help replenish surrounding fishing grounds.
These results come at a crucial time for the Northern Zone Rock Lobster Fishery, which is currently in a biomass rebuilding phase. The strong recovery observed inside the marine parks highlights the productivity and resilience of South Australia’s temperate reef ecosystems, while demonstrating the role MPAs can play in supporting sustainable fisheries. Ultimately, the study reinforces that marine parks such as those around Kangaroo Island and the Neptune Islands do more than protect biodiversity — they serve as valuable scientific reference sites, guiding fisheries management and helping to secure the future of one of South Australia’s most iconic seafood industries.
The paper “Marine park monitoring informs productivity potential of a southern rock lobster resource in South Australia“, by Adrian Linnane, Lachlan McLeay, Peter Hawthorne, Douglas Graske, Kyriakos Toumazos and Annabel Jones, published in Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, is available as open access.
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